The trouble with most copywriters is that…they don’t think in terms of selling. – David Ogilvy
In a gloriously 1970s video directed at direct response writers, the Father of Modern Advertising (and Don Draper inspiration), David Ogilvy pleads for direct response marketers to teach their “general advertiser” brethren how to write ads.
As you can see, he’s very direct about his feelings on the matter.
The chasm between direct response advertising and general advertising is wide. On your side of the chasm I see knowledge and reality. On the other side of the chasm I see ignorance.
Despite making Ogilvy & Mather one of the greatest global agencies and bringing dignity to the advertising profession before his retirement, Ogilvy acknowledged that direct response was his first love. (Unsurprising for a man who once worked as a door-to-door stove salesman.) He lamented the fact that “creativity” was still being deified, and did not consider advertising an art. For him, advertising had one purpose: selling.
Ogilvy passed away in 1999. Now, almost 16 years later, his wish has come true. Inbound and outbound marketers both work in the same department, often switching roles on the fly, and brands can A/B test everything that they write. But Ogilvy’s deeper concerns remain. Most copywriters are still inbound rather than outbound thinkers. They’re still not thinking in terms of selling.
This is not to say that all writing should be direct-response writing. Quite frankly, if any brand wrote their blog posts the way they wrote their ads, no one would take them seriously. But if all brands just pasted their blog posts into their newsletters (as many brands do), they wouldn’t sell much at all.
There has to be a balance in content marketing between inbound and outbound thinking. And the best way to arrive at that balance is to determine which type of marketing works best in which channel. It’s not rocket science. But it does require thinking.
1. Website Copy: Outbound
Your website is the digital equivalent of your brick-and-mortar store. This is where your prospects turn into customers. It’s where you offer helpful services and advice to people who might need help deciding what they need, and it’s where you make the sale, too. As such, your website should have only a bit of inbound (the blog, and any carousel content that refers to it) but the rest should be outbound. It should be sales-focused, and every page should be tested.
“Ogilvyism”: Too many websites try to be whimsical. Your customer doesn’t care if you sound nice through text and graphics on a computer screen. They care that you can help them solve a problem.
2. Blog Posts: Inbound
The one part of your website that should not be sales-focused is your blog. It’s a food court in the attentive sea of customer reprensentatives on every other page of your site. A place where your visitor can relax a little and reassess their opinion of you. Aside from your product, what else can you offer? Why should they trust your brand? A carefully constructed “About Us” and “Team” page might not be enough.
Not many brands understand why they need a blog. They just have one because the stats say they should.
The truth is that blog posts build thought leadership, get shared, get you guest blogs on bigger sites, and keep your recurring customers coming back for more.
“Ogilvyism”: Your website sells your product, but your blog is the team behind the product. It’s the real About Us page.
3. Email/Newsletter: Outbound
No, your email newsletter should not just be linking to your blog. It can from time to time (when you have a stellar post you just need your opt-ins to see), but for the most part your newsletter should be all about selling.
Even though Google has attempted to ease our email cynicism with their helpful tabs, I still get hundreds of messages a day in my “other inboxes” that I don’t read. No matter how well they’re written, there are just too many promotions with bad headlines I don’t care about. So, to stick out, you should be boldly transparent. You have less than 5 seconds of my time. How will you use it?
“Ogilvyism”: Well? I’m waiting. My inbox isn’t going to sort itself, you know.
4. Social Media: Inbound
Just as with blog posts, many brands are stupefied by social media. They just can’t see how a B2B product or SaaS woul benefit from having social media accounts.
Two words: product placement.
No, seriously, think about it. 90% of your social media posts may have nothing to do with the product you’re selling. But they should all have something to do with your target customer, and what they would find useful. That is the guiding rule of thumb. If you follow this rule, then everytime you help a potential customer solve a small problem, they will see your brand name. It adds up.
“Ogilvyism”: Sell me this pen (without selling me this pen).
5. Videos: Outbound
Oh, video. It stirred up a lot of controvery in Ogilvy’s day (how long should it be? how many words should it have per minute?), and it continues to do so on YouTube today.
“Video marketing” is just as effective today as it was 50 years ago. And, just as they did 50 years ago, big brands are dumping their marketing budgets into “creative” campaigns that cost millions — but which might not move the needle that much at all.
Let’s say you’re not a Fortune 500 company. Let’s say you’re not even a Fortune 1000 company. You’re still going to be spending far more on your 1-minute videos than on any other piece of content in your arsenal, period. So are you really going to double guess yourself?
“Ogilyvism”: Stick with producting outbound videos that sell. You’ll get more for your money’s worth.
Do you use inbound and outbound differently for every channel? Do you find that certain types of content do particularly well with both inbound and outbound targets? Feel free to comment below.
